Research at the Mass Customization Research Centre

MCRC's research objective is to increase the understanding of Mass Customization and disseminate this knowledge to the business and academic communities.

Participating in research

MCRC welcomes interest from companies. MCRC would be very pleased to visit and give briefings on Mass Customization and learn of Mass Customization interests and initiatives.

For companies that would like to participate in research, there are several forms of collaboration:

Direct research with MCRC
Where there is an issue of mutual interest from which can come specific business and research insights a scope of work can be developed and resourced. An example is where a company is assessing or planning the adoption of MC and can benefit from a focused analysis of its systems and processes. New operations models and approches are being developed for Mass Customization and for MCRC the research benefit comes from applying them. For the company it is the independent analysis of their processes that brings benefit and the awareness of the latest approaches. These projects are typically of three months and upwards in duration.

Participation in a research consortium
Research into common problems or fundamental aspects of mass customization can benefit from a cross-sector study. Non-competing companies form a consortium and benefit from sharing knowledge and resources. An example would be the study of quality in mass customized manufacturing or service delivery. It is normal for these projects to run over a year or more.

Knowledge Partnership
Formerly known as the Teaching Company Scheme, this is a government sponsored initiative for linking the business and academic worlds. A project that will run for between one and three years is defined and a graduate recruited, who has access to the academic resources of the University throughout the project. More information is available from www.ktponline.org.uk

MBA research project
Nottingham University Business School has thriving and respected MBA programmes. There are oppotunities for a company's own staff to join an MBA programme or for independent students to analyse a problem as part of their studies.

Post-graduate or Doctoral project
If appropriate a project can be incorporated into the schedule of a taught course. The Operations Management Group of the Nottingham University Business School teaches a number of MSc courses. A different option is to use a project as a foundation for a MPhil or PhD qualification. This can be attractive to an employees wishing to pursue a commercially important issue and obtain external recognition.

First contact

To explore and discuss opportunities for collaborating with MCRC please contact us at [details>>]